By Thatiana Navas Dias Pinheiro.
The Home Office announced an early Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) concession for young adults on 21 October 2021. The ILR concession brings good news for young adults requesting leave based on their private life in the UK. These young adults must have entered the UK as children. They must also have leave in the UK, on the ten-year route to settlement.
To qualify for the early Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) concession for young adults, you must fulfil the following criteria:
- On the date of the application, you must be a young adult between the ages of 18 and 25 years old:
- Have either been born in the UK or entered the UK as a minor;
- Held five years limited leave; and
- Be qualified under and have made an application based on private life grounds. This is (under paragraph 276ADE (1) of the UK Immigration Rules.)
- Once the young adult meets the above requirements, the Home Office should consider if it is the case of granting an early ILR on an exceptional basis.
The Home Office may also consider, among other aspects for the early ILR concession:
- The links the applicant has with the UK;
- Length of their residence in the UK, and
- Whether any periods of overstaying resulted from non-compliance by the applicant’s parents/guardians. Therefore the applicant could not be held responsible for the periods of unlawful residence.
The new guidance can benefit many applicants who used to be only considered under the 10-year route for settlement. The new guidance means that they could apply for settlement straight away after five years. Applying under the early ILR concession will, of course, result in significant savings in terms of fees for the Home Office application and payment toward the Immigration Health Surcharge. Moreover, they will potentially be able to apply for naturalisation as British citizens much earlier.
How Breytenbachs can help young adults applying under the early ILR concession
If you believe that you can qualify for the early ILR concession for young adults, please contact us. Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants have a dedicated team of consultants dealing with related immigration matters. Please feel free to contact us or email us at [email protected].
